Doncaster Local Plan: Archaeological Scoping Assessment Allocation Reference
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Doncaster Local Plan: Archaeological Scoping Assessment Allocation Reference: 440 Area (Ha): 11.26 Allocation Type: Housing/Employment NGR (centre): SE 5773 0291 Site Name: Civic & Cultural Quarter, Waterdale Settlement: Doncaster Urban Area Allocation Recommendations Archaeological significance of site Unknown Historic landscape significance Negligible Suitability of site for allocation Uncertain archaeological constraint Summary Within site Within buffer zone Scheduled Monument - - Listed Building 1 60 SMR record/event 7 records/4 events 30 records/27 events Cropmark/Lidar evidence No No Cartographic features of interest Yes Yes Estimated sub-surface disturbance Extensive n/a www.archeritage.co.uk Page 1 of 13 Doncaster Local Plan: Archaeological Scoping Assessment Allocation Reference: 440 Area (Ha): 11.26 Allocation Type: Housing/Employment NGR (centre): SE 5773 0291 Site Name: Civic & Cultural Quarter, Waterdale Settlement: Doncaster Urban Area Site assessment Known assets/character: The SMR records three findspots, four monuments and four events within the site. The findspots are of a Middle Bronze Age bronze axe and chisel; and a coin hoard from an unspecified location within Doncaster. The monuments are all archaeological remains recorded during the events within the site. Evaluation trenching and open area excavation at the northwest side of the site recovered remains including a pit of possible Iron Age date; a Roman cremation and inhumation cemetery, with cremations of 1st- to 2nd-century AD date, some associated with votive offerings, and a few 3rd- to 4th-century inhumations; a possible fenceline and sand and gravel quarry pits of medieval to post-medieval date; and a complex of World War I practice trenches, probably used in recruiting drives. Along the northeast side of the site, building recording of historic school buildings within Doncaster College was undertaken, followed by an evaluation and watching brief within the college grounds which identified features associated with 19th-century gardens and an earlier buried ploughsoil. The SMR records 8 findspots, 22 monuments and 27 events are recorded in the buffer zone. The findspots comprised a prehistoric flint dagger; a Bronze Age burial urn; a Roman burial urn; a single coin of Hadrian; a hoard of Roman coins and jewellery found disturbed in a medieval pit; and three early medieval Byzantine coins (two of which may be the same coin recorded twice). The earliest monument recorded is a possible pre-Roman boundary ditch sealed by the Roman road at Hallgate, with many relating to Roman activity recorded through excavation, including the course of the road leading through Doncaster, along the route of South Parade and Hallgate, proved by excavation in places; settlement remains at Wood Street, comprising field boundaries, a pit and locally-produced pottery; a 2nd-century AD cremation and inhumation cemetery at Hallgate; a pit or ditch terminus; possible wall foundations and postholes found below a building in High Street; and pits containing Roman pottery in Cleveland Street. Medieval remains recorded comprise the original and current location of a stone cross, now on South Parade; the site of a Carmelite Friary, and associated pits, walls, a substantial road, cart shed and ovens, found in excavations; the site of a town gate and part of the town ditch; numerous pottery kilns concentrated in the Hallgate and Wood Street area; lime-slaking pits; and part of a column from a medieval church. Post-medieval monuments are a timber-framed building in High Street; a stone-lined well; wall footings and sand extraction pit; and an early 19th-century workshop. The 27 events within the buffer are mainly concentrated in the north and northwest part of the buffer, and included building recording, evaluations, excavations and watching briefs, with many of the monuments listed above found within these events. The nearest to the site was at Chequer Road to the immediate northeast, which recorded post-medieval to modern agricultural and horticultural features. In several events, the archaeological remains had been removed or severely truncated by 19th- to 20th-century buildings. The general pattern of events and monuments suggests that the site was located outside the Roman and medieval town, though close to the road. Roman cemeteries, such as that found in evaluations within the site, were usually located along roads outside the limits of settlement. There are no Scheduled Monuments within the site or the buffer zone. One grade II listed building is recorded within the site, a swimming pool and health club. One Grade II* and 59 Grade II listed buildings are recorded in the buffer, mainly focused along South Parade, Hallgate and High Street. The Magnesian Limestone in South and West Yorkshire Aerial Photographic Mapping Project did not record any features within the site or the buffer zone. The Historic Environment Characterisation records the site as falling within several character zones. The majority of the site comprises School and College buildings, first depicted in 1930 and expanding over time, with the central part of the site overlying the former ‘Glasgow Paddocks’, enclosed land with numerous probable stables and used as the site of horse markets; the northern part overlying the former Beechfield House and its gardens. Along the western side of the site is an area characterised as a late 20th-century Shopping Centre, constructed following wholesale clearance of mid- and early 19th-century terraced housing. The southwest part of the site is characterised as a Ring Road/Bypass dating to the late 1960s-early 1970s; with a Car Park at the northwest side www.archeritage.co.uk Page 2 of 13 Doncaster Local Plan: Archaeological Scoping Assessment believed to have originated as a green at the crossing point of two Roman roads and used as the site of Doncaster's 'Horse Fair' in the post-medieval period; and a Swimming Pool at the southern end of the site. Within the northeast part of the site are Civic & Municipal Buildings, comprising an art gallery and museum, mostly built on the site of post-medieval orchards and gardens, although the northernmost part of the site was previously occupied by a 'Drill Hall'. Further character zones within the buffer include Terraced Housing, Religious, Playing Fields/Recreation Ground, Public Park, Civic & Municipal Buildings, School, Motorway and Trunk Road Junctions, Shopping Centre, Urban Commercial Core, Planned Estate (Social Housing), Villas/Detached Housing, Other Industry. In the majority of the buffer there is no legibility of former landscapes. Cartographic/historic land use assessment: Within the site, the 1852 OS map showed Chequer Lane Gardens, several greenhouses, Beechfield House and its grounds, Glasgow Paddocks, Providence House and housing along James Street South and Spring Gardens. Chequer House, a school, a church and housing at Catherine Street were shown on the 1892 map. Greenhouses had been added to Beechfield House by 1902, with sale rings shown at Glasgow Paddocks, housing developments, Christ Church Schools, Hargreaves Yard, Venables Yard and Cleveland Square shown on the 1902 OS map. Scarborough Barracks Drill Hall, allotment gardens, Beechfield Park, schools, a girls’ high school, a shelter and lavatories, further housing, a club and tram tracks shown in 1930. Scarborough Barracks had been rebuilt by 1961, while Doncaster Technical College, Doncaster Museum, Doncaster High School, a bus station, car parks, public baths, a church hall and the county court were also marked at that date. Substantial redevelopment had taken place within the site by 1969. Council offices, a new museum and art gallery, a health clinic, a printing works, warehousing, Chequer Lane and an Arts Centre were shown in the north-east part of the site at that date. Doncaster Technical College had expanded to occupy much of the former Glasgow Paddocks, while car parks and College Road had also been constructed in this area. A new bus station, a multi-storey car park, a National Spiritualist Church and a Liberal Club stood in the western part of the site. Little substantive change was shown within the site on the 1984 and 1992 OS maps. Numerous features were shown within the buffer zone on the 1852 OS map, including Elmfield Park, Hall Cross, the Hall Cross itself, gardens, numerous streets, houses, industrial buildings, churches, chapels, shops, public houses, major and minor roads, allotments and yards. The majority of the smaller open spaces within the buffer had been developed by 1892. The late 19th-century townscape remained largely intact in 1930, although extensive housing development had taken place in former parts of Elmfield Park. Little change had occurred by 1956, although substantial redevelopment had occurred in the north-east part of the buffer by 1961, with clearances of 19th-century housing having taken place in the south-west part of the buffer by that date. Substantial redevelopment had occurred in both areas by 1969, with much of the 19th-century townscape having been replaced. New roads and modern retail, commercial and municipal buildings had replaced the majority of the domestic properties. Little further substantive change had occurred within the buffer by 1992. Survival: Twenty-first-century archaeological excavations in a former car park and bus station in the northwest part of the Waterdale site revealed parts of a Roman cemetery, as well as medieval or later sand and gravel extraction and World War II practice trenches. It is possible that further Roman-period archaeological remains survive within the site. While these remains may have been impacted by post-medieval gravel extraction or 19th- and 20th-century construction works, the Waterdale remains demonstrate that buried archaeological remains can survive in this area. There are remaining areas of car parking within the site that have a moderate to high potential for the survival of archaeological remains, particularly in the southeast side of the site, though areas under large modern buildings are likely to be largely disturbed with a low potential for surviving remains.